Author's Forward:

So I've been remiss on covering my legal ass, so let's do this right now and we'll just say it's retroactive, mmkay? I don't own the characters or the settings from the Vampire Diaries, nor do I make or intend to make money off this work of fiction inspired by the Vampire Diaries. I only do this for fun, not profit. If I offend, I do sincerely apologize to the writers, stars, fans, and producers of my favorite guilty pleasure of a show.

Now, for the thanks duly owed to the lovely readers and reviewers of this story: I LOVE YOU ALL! I would cook you all a nice dinner at my house and talk about the Vampire diaries long into the morning with you if I could. I'm afraid my husband wouldn't take it very well, though, so I'm sending you a mental slice of pie, the flavor of your choice, to express my sincere gratitude for all your lovely words.

ginbyshin: You write English very well, so don't sweat it!

fanficsareawesome: I love the triangles, if you couldn't tell. Matty's not done with dear Caroline, no matter what she thinks.

BlellePhoenix: OOC in which way? I'm hoping I could have some help with this, honestly. I'm writing them as a kind of way to exorcise my own demons left over from teenage girlhood, so if you have any pointers, please PM me.

DanielWhite: Don't worry, she'll find out… eventually ;-) My bet's on a guilty confession from Stefan.

I've taken up enough of your time, so as they say: "On with the show."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*v*(D/E/C/J)*v*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elena peered at Caroline warily from the circle of Damon's arms. She felt so many things just then: consternation that her private moment with Damon had been interrupted, guilt for not informing Caroline and Damon what very real danger they were all in for being associated with her, hope, for Caroline's sake, that Tyler was still among the living, and lastly, embarrassment at not thinking that her friends could not be trusted with the truth. Katherine had warned her to keep her mouth shut, but since when did she listen to what Katherine said over keeping her friends out of danger?

Caroline just stood there, nearly vibrating with energy as she thought of Tyler out there somewhere, waiting for her, or possibly needing her help. She'd expected more of a reaction out of Elena, at least, more of her own excitement mirrored back in best-friend camaraderie. She remembered the awful things she had said to her in the drawing room, then, and how they had nearly come to blows, and her face fell with the realization that Elena might not be too happy with her just at the moment, or too worried about how she felt seeing Elena in Damon's arms moments after they had just fought about her relationship with him.

For her part, Elena was filled with guilt at not telling her friend the supposed good news sooner. She sighed, then, and decided it was time to come clean. She turned to Damon, first, to confirm her suspicions even as she opened the door to telling them both what she needed to say. "Stefan's with Katherine, isn't he." She said it as a statement, not a question, a weary acceptance in her tone. "That's where you overheard the news. She told him, like she told me."

"When did she tell you?" Damon asked, seemingly perplexed while he forced himself not to betray his relief that he didn't have to be the one to tell her. "You've been here all day."

"This morning… after you and I…" she trailed off, glanced at Caroline, cleared her throat and made an uncomfortable gesture. "I got into the shower and the next thing I knew, she was in there with me." She stepped away and crossed her arms over her belly, looking so much like a lost little girl in that moment.

"I would have paid to see that," Damon smirked, putting up a wall of humor to hide how much her pulling away twisted at his gut. She pulled a face, and he could practically hear the phrase, "don't be an pig," fighting its way onto her tongue. Caroline rolled her eyes, as if to say "figures," but held her peace.

"She told me about Klaus, and about how she knew." Elena sat down on one of the couches, twisted her hands, and decided to come completely clean, leaving out only the irrelevant details that still made her blush. Sensing a long-winded tale, Damon and Caroline both sat. Damon took the space beside her on the love seat, and Caroline occupied the other sofa, facing them. At the end of her explanation, she fixed them both with pleading, big brown eyes in turn. "She wants to teach me how to know it, too. How to sense bloodlines. I have to meet her again at midnight, and I have to do it alone. I'm only telling you this because I don't want anybody to get hurt trying to stop me, or to lose the chance to learn this if I'm followed."

Damon slammed the cold mask down, while inside he was cheering that Elena was finally beginning to show some sense about making plans with their supposed enemies. He would have hated to find out about what she was planning after the fact, but thankfully that was taken care of when Katherine forgot herself for an instant and laughed.

"If she wanted to kill me, she would have done it when you were asleep," Elena said hotly, defending her complicity in the scheme between the doppelgängers. "I promise I'll teach what I learn, if I can, to everyone, especially you two. You need to know the most, Caroline, so you can find out where Tyler is, and Damon, you and I need to be able to find one another, and Stefan, and keep well clear of Klaus when he decides to come for us."

"You're sure this is the only way?" Caroline asked, worried and otherwise eerily silent as the need to find Tyler warred with her usual mistrust of anything having to do with the vampire who'd killed her.

"She said she learned from Scary Mary, and Mary's dead, killed by Kol. I'm sure there's something a witch could help us with, but Bonnie's not exactly gung-ho about dealing with Vampire Business," Elena murmured, still wringing her hands. She didn't like the idea of trusting Katherine any more than the rest of them did.

"She's still awfully new to her powers, too," Damon added. "Gloria knew about blood and magic, but she's gone as well."

"So we have to trust her?" Caroline muttered worriedly, looking at the floor.

"But we don't have to be stupid about it," Damon shook his head. "You're not going into this alone," he declared finally, looking off at nothing and pretending to scheme. He'd already had a plan and several backups before he set foot outside of his bedroom that day, but he wasn't about to tell the two of them that. "I'll dust off the old crow disguise and follow you at a distance."

"That was YOU?" Elena and Caroline both exclaimed in stereo. He hadn't used his crow form around Caroline, but he was sure that Elena and Bonnie had both told her of his odd, Kamikaze antics at some point or another in his winged form.

"Of course. You didn't think that the local wildlife was dive-bombing SUV's for the hell of it, did you?"

"You nearly scared us to death!" Elena shouted, smacking him on the arm, which stung a lot more now that she wasn't a weak little human, truth be told. For some reason, she managed to find something about it funny and began to laugh. Abruptly, she sobered. "You sent me that dream." He knew the one she spoke of. A make out session in her bedroom with his dear brother, the removal of clothing, his face replacing that of her almost boyfriend. He'd enjoyed orchestrating that one at the time...

"I'm pleading the fifth on that," he drawled. "It was before you brought out my humanity, remember?"

"So much for pleading the fifth," Caroline glowered. "I have no idea what dream she's talking about, but you all but admitted it right there."

"Hey, I was a different vampire back then. I hadn't gone all soft," he smirked, then threw an arm over the back of the couch behind Elena, as if to prove the opposite.

"You mean, back when you used me as your personal blood bag and a way to get at Elena? You left me covered in bite marks and bruises and messed with my mind." Caroline exploded at him, surprising them all by her ability to completely lose it while still remaining seated. "Honestly, I was a poster child for domestic abuse! I lied to my friends about it, made excuses, all because you compelled me to! You used me and abused me and dropped me like a bad habit when you were done. Is that the 'back then' you're talking about?" For her part, Elena remained silent. This was a conversation that needed to happen. The past had been eating Caroline up for some time and Damon needed to see what kind of damage he'd really done. He needed to be held accountable, and she didn't have it in her to be the one to do the holding anymore. He might have tried to make amends to her in little ways here and there, and maybe some big ways, but they'd never talked about it.

"Yes," he said simply, not apologizing. "You were food, Caroline. I didn't care about you, because I didn't care about anything. I switched all that off because I needed to use every weapon at my disposal to rescue Katherine and my emotions were a hindrance."

"What's to say that wasn't the real you, and that 'new Damon' isn't the act?" she persisted. "How can we trust you, after what you did to me? To Vickie?"

"I have no answer to that you'll accept, so what's the point?" He threw his hands up in frustration, then leaned forward, elbows to knees in a hunched posture that belied his apathy on the matter. He fixed Caroline in his purest, bluest gaze. If she'd been human, she would have sworn he was trying to compel her. "That Damon is still a possibility. It's still within me to be that, if I have to, but you have that inside you, too. Admit it. The only reason you didn't flip the switch after you killed that guy is because you didn't want to be like me. I was the meth addict to your after-school special, scaring you into keeping your humanity. I gave you something to be afraid of in yourself." He glowered at her, leaning forward.

"That sounds very similar to what Klaus said," she shot back. "Didn't he tell Stefan we should be thankful for him, giving us something to hate?"

"He told you that?" Elena murmured. She thought he'd only come to her with that information… Caroline merely gave her a short nod before turning her gaze back to the dark-haired bane of her short human existence.

"Look, for what it's worth, I'm sorry, all right? I know it's a day late and a dollar short, but I'm sorry I treated you that way. If I could do it all over again, though, I would. If I hadn't come back to Mystic Falls for the comet, I never would have met Elena, and I'd still be that monster." Elena gaped openly. Damon never apologized.

Caroline's eyes glinted daggers at him, but she rolled her eyes and bit back any rebuff, realizing that it was true. He was a real monster to them when he first got to town, and then he… was merely an ass. She shook her head, muttering something too low for even his vampire hearing to pick up.

"Katherine still would have found a way to turn you, and still would have gotten Tyler's werewolf gene to trigger," Damon continued. "Klaus would have killed you both in the sacrifice. I saved you, and nearly died of the werewolf bite your boyfriend gave me for my pains. We've all been through hell, and hating me isn't going to change that. But, hey, if it makes you feel better, I'll let you torture me for a few hours to get it out of your system."

Caroline's eyes popped open in shock, dismayed that he would think she'd even want to. She'd been through torture, at his hands, at the werewolf Brady's, at her father's, and at Evil Alaric's. She wouldn't wish it on anyone. She knew what it felt like. "No," she whispered, shaking her head and dropping her eyes to the ground. "It wouldn't make me feel better." She felt ill even entertaining the notion, and pressed a hand to her middle. "I don't enjoy hurting others. I'm not like that."

"So are we good then?" he growled, clearly pissed that there was nothing he could do to make things right in her eyes.

"No, but maybe… some day."

"Fine. I know I'll never be your favorite vampire, but can we at least agree that I'm not the enemy?" At this, she nodded, and he considered the matter closed.

"Look, not to be a Debbie Downer on your grand plan or anything," Caroline said after an uncomfortable silence, "but if she can really sense you through your blood, she'll know you're around."

"That would be true, if I were going to be. I can set up surveillance devices at the tomb and not go there in person until I'm needed."

"She's older than you, Damon, by centuries. Even if both you and Stefan showed up to fight her, she'd still have Elena staked before you could get there. There's no way you could set up hidden cameras well enough out there for her not to be able to find them. I can hear the electricity running through the house right now, so how much better is her hearing?" Caroline shook her head. Damon was impressed with how quickly she caught on to his scheme and how she thought of things he wouldn't, but he couldn't let her know that. He had to seem like he was in control… it was just something he had to be. He wasn't used to plotting with a partner. He'd had allies for sure, but Caroline was quicker on the uptake than most and for once he didn't find himself holding back information or ideas for fear that they would be used against him later when his partner turned on him. In this, he had no ace in the hole, and it unsettled him.

"Guys, I really don't see any other way than her way," Elena cut in, still behind her own version of the plan, one hundred percent.

"What if she just wants to hand you over to Klaus to save herself? You could be walking right into her trap, Elena," Caroline scooted forward on the couch, the palms of her hands held up, beseeching.

"I don't trust her any farther than I can throw her, but…"

"She's made you an offer you can't refuse," Caroline finished for her, sadness in her eyes. It was an offer none of them could refuse.

"So we're just supposed to let you put yourself out there, without protection, and let what happens happen? I don't think so. Not again," Damon said with finality.

"We've done our level best to keep me out of danger for how long?" Elena gave a mirthless chuckle. "It was for my own protection that I was even in the truck with Matt to begin with." She shook her head sadly. "I'm not as breakable as I used to be. Can we just agree to disagree on this? You'll have Bonnie to locate me if you need to."

"By then it could be too late. If Klaus takes you, you're a goner. If Katherine stakes you, there will be nothing to track and no way to bring you back." Damon had turned to face her directly, putting forth all his fears without masking how he felt, not caring that Caroline was there to witness it. It didn't matter right then that he was open and vulnerable for the world to see. What mattered was that he ensured that Elena didn't die just as he'd finally begun to know what it was like to have her with him.

Elena turned to face him, as well, shutting Caroline out of her field of vision completely. "If Klaus takes me, I have a feeling he'll be wanting my suffering to last a long time, or using me to lure you and Stefan there so he can take everything out on all of us. If Katherine wanted to stake me, she would have done it already. We've been over that." Her chocolate eyes shone with conviction and with gratitude that he wasn't trying to hide. She knew what it cost him, wearing his heart on his sleeve again. She knew what he felt he risked. Her hand came up to caress his cheek softly and he leaned into her touch, his eyes slipping closed.

Caroline felt for all the world an uninvited intruder. Silently and unnoticed, she slipped off the couch and gave them their space, jaw clenched. Just because she didn't like the idea of Elena choosing Damon didn't mean she was going to interfere. They'd all given her the third degree when Tyler was sired to Klaus. She knew what it was like having her friends disapprove of the one she loved. What she said before to Stefan in her car still stood. No matter what Damon had done to Caroline, he'd never hurt Elena. She moved to the library with her prize, forgotten in the heat of their earlier fight: Damon's journal, now Elena's. Within it, she hoped she would find insight into her own dilemma. What was she going to do about Matt? About what she'd done with him, alone in his hospital room? Suddenly, she felt as though she'd betrayed Tyler. She thought he was dead, what, like a day? Not even a full twenty-four hours had passed before she'd kissed another man. Part of her reaction to what Elena had done with Damon, a large part, was because of her own guilt for reaching for a future that wouldn't leave her all alone. If Damon hadn't called her when he did… silent tears fell. She hadn't gone so far as to sleep with Matt, but in her heart, she knew. If Damon hadn't yanked her away, she would have.

She'd felt guilty then, and took it out on Elena. Now she felt a hundred times worse. Were they all no better than Katherine, in the end? Would they all end up moving through eternity, destroying the hearts of the men who loved them in the pursuit of their own selfish desires? Wiping at the tears and giving a sniffle, she pasted her brave look back on her face and allowed herself the distraction of reading what they wrote.

O, Beauty Incarnate

Your eyes shine like starlight

I long for your caress

I await in slumber,

In waking, I breathe not

Cannot for wanting you

You shall be my sunlight

I would barter all days

For the sound of your voice

Would have no need for wine

To sup e'er at your lips

Forever more, we two

The life beats at your breast

Within you, the answer

The ending, the beginning

Eternal surrender

Striding o'er the earth on

Wings of e'er lasting love

She couldn't believe Damon would write any of that. Not the Damon she knew. He was all sarcasm and bluff and pride. How could anyone believe it? A sappy Damon. She shook her head in wonder.

She turned the page to find the more familiar writing of a contemporary hand. These words she knew, as if they'd fallen from Elena's lips. They said nothing but what Elena had already told her, shed no new light into her own soul. Damon's old poetry gave her more than the words Elena saw fit to scrawl. It was like a dry run for every argument she'd made, like she'd expected the words to be read, or that they bore repeating ad nauseam until she believed them herself.

Her tone was contrite and confused about many things. Caroline rolled her eyes at the outpouring of teen angst. She was firm on one fact, though: she loved Damon. She wasn't trying to mold him into another version of Stefan. They were two completely separate beings, two opposites, and yet she found a lot to love in both. Caroline could draw the same correlations between her own two loves. Matt: so human, sweet, and safe. Tyler: dark, defiant, and oh so dangerous. His hybrid werewolf venom could kill her but she wasn't afraid of him, or it. Not even the fact that he had bitten her-poisoned her while under Klaus's control-could deter her from loving him and wanting to be with him. Tyler was many things, but tame wasn't one of them. The heart of a wild thing beat within his chest and it made her feel so… alive to be with him. The hint of danger was one of the things that drew her, armored over a core so vulnerable, so desiring of love that it compelled her to dig past the danger to find that precious jewel within and nurture it.

She'd long ago slid the volume closed between her palms and stared off into the fire, lost in the impossibility of her choice. In the end, she knew that as long as Tyler lived, she would be at his side, faithful to the last. Though she loved Matt dearly, she was as dangerous to him as Tyler could be to her. She could never give him a family, could never grow old with him. If she allowed her relationship with him to happen, to continue, eventually he would be like the rest of them, stuck forever in the supernatural world they inhabited with no chance at a normal life.

She had to give him what they all lost. He was the last among them to have that chance. Even if Tyler died, even if she was left alone, she couldn't take that from Matt. She had to set him free.

"Elena?" Jeremy's voice sounded through the house from the front door. With a jolt, Caroline stood and slid the diary in with the rest of the books on the shelf and sped to the front door. Elena and Damon were already in the door to the hall from the drawing room. Damon stood slightly in front of Elena to act as the first line of defense if she lost her mind to the hunger. Caroline took up position beside Jeremy, giving him a small smile before returning her attention to Elena to see how she fared.

"Hi, Jer," Elena said softly, nervously hiding behind Damon's shoulder in fear that she'd lunge for her brother's jugular at a moment's notice.

Jeremy wasn't worried at all. He knew Elena would never hurt him, no matter what. He sidestepped Caroline and held out his arms to his big sister. She hesitated, cringing as the sound of his heartbeat carried to her ears. "Come on, Elena, don't be like that," Jeremy cajoled, shooting Damon a warning glance when he moved to block Elena entirely. Damon took in the stubborn set to the younger Gilbert's jaw, his confident stance, his resurrection ring and nodded, moving aside.

"Jer, please, I don't want to hurt you," Elena whimpered, cringing back.

"You won't," he assured her. "And if you do, I'll be ok."

She stood there in the doorway for a moment, indecisive as to whether she should hug her brother or escape. There was nothing and no one between them but air and her own fears. In an instant, she came to a decision and sprung forward at vamp speed to take her brother's offered hug. She held him carefully, as if he were made of glass, and took an experimental breath as his arms wound comfortingly around her. When she felt no hunger force her fangs through her gums, felt no need to drain his blood to sustain her life, she sighed in relief and hugged him tighter.

He grunted as his ribs protested her crushing hold. "Easy, Elena, you're stronger than you look and I'm just a lowly human," he joked, pulling at her arms which had turned to rebar. It was a futile effort, he knew, but it brought Elena back to herself and she loosened her hold on her sibling with an embarrassed sort of happiness that made her chuckle in ernest.

"Sorry. I'm just so glad I can hug you!" she gushed, pulling back.

"The feeling's mutual," he replied, giving her waist one more squeeze before he let her go. "I couldn't touch you if you were a ghost."

"Ok, kids," Damon drawled. "Sun sets in an hour so you two have plenty of time to catch up. I've got to get some… things together if we're going to be moving our bat cave. Stay here," he commanded to all three of them, and Caroline merely nodded. "Yell if you need me. I'll be around," he said mysteriously before speeding off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*v*(S/K)*v*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katherine leaned over him, propped on an elbow as she idly traced the tattoo on his shoulder. Naked, they basked in the dying Virginia sunlight on a patch of moss which gave off the sweet smell of earthy things where it had been torn up by their earlier acrobatic lovemaking. Katherine was smiling softly, biting her lip as she continued tracing her finger over bare skin she hadn't seen in over a century. Oh, how she'd missed her golden, green-eyed boy…

The alcohol they consumed earlier was leaving him faster than he'd like. Becoming sober was something he didn't relish at the moment. Stefan felt the crushing weight of his own guilt hanging in the air, waiting to smother him if he'd let it. He'd just had sex with Katherine to spite Elena, he realized. He did that and yet, he felt like she deserved it. It was only fair that he'd sought solace in her mirror image after she'd slept with his own brother.

Katherine was now using her mouth where her fingers had been, trailing lips and tongue over the hollows and hills of his form, learning his topography all over again, coaxing him into hardness with her gently applied foreplay. He didn't want her gentle, he wanted her wild and frantic and gasping out his name.

She moved to straddle his hips as that part of him she liked so well began to stiffen under her ministrations. His hand came up to grip her throat, the strength in the tendons not quite hurting, but nearly. She'd always fantasized what Vampire Stefan would be like in bed, and she hadn't been disappointed. Now she wanted more.

In a whirl, he had her pinned beneath him on the ground, her breast in his left hand, her neck in his right. He moved against her teasingly, applying pressure in all the right places to get her to moan in abandon. How well he remembered the way she liked to be touched. She had been his first, the one to teach him the dance. He stroked her passionately, willing away all other thoughts but those of what it was like to feel her body respond to him all over again.

Once she'd had enough of playing at being the yielding flower, she flipped them over, reversing their position with ease. She always liked being the one in control, the one who mastered him and herself, bringing them pleasure at her own pace. Just because he had a bit more strength and speed to him now didn't mean they were in any way equal, yet. She'd show him why he shouldn't have resisted her to begin with, she'd show him and then he'd be sorry…

The clearing rang out with the sounds of flesh meeting flesh and rock and tree. A passerby might think that there were giants fighting in the woods. The local wildlife had been slowly returning to their nests and warrens, but the renewal of the mating dance of predators silenced them all once more. Howls and screams more befitting a massacre replaced birdsong and the chirping of insects. The ground showed new furrows and the trees trembled in their wake.

Stefan held on for dear life as she rode him at vampire speed against the ruin of the church. She guttered like a candle flame against him and went still; her muscles locked tight and then released. He carried her tenderly to the ground while his knees threatened to give out. He pillowed her back on their patch of moss and made sweeter love to her in earnest, loving her mewls and the gentling look in her eyes as he found his own release. His hands found purchase in the mossy earth to either side of her, curled into claws and scored ten new furrows as he trembled and cried out his end.

With a groan, he fell to the side, staring up at the holes in the canopy showed the darkening blue of the sky. The forest held its collective breath, hoping that the danger was over, but wanting to make sure, this time. Slowly, birdsong returned. The fox returned to her kits, loath to leave them but unable to move them while danger still knocked at her door. With the sounds of life returned Stefan's conscience. The crushing guilt came upon him at last.

He sped around the clearing, gathering his clothing with jerky movements. He didn't dare look back on the ground where Katherine stretched languidly, wearing nothing but a self-satisfied smile. As he went to throw on his jeans she was suddenly behind him, pressing her breasts into his back and letting her hands wander possessively over his delectably muscled chest.

"What's the rush, my sweet Stefan? Afraid I'll tempt you into round three?" she purred.

"I can't believe I did that. It was a mistake," he grumbled, shrugging her off.

"Oh, come on now. Once is a mistake, but twice?" she tutted, hiding the hurt so well he almost didn't notice it. "Twice says you meant it."

"We were drunk. I was upset," he denied, tugging his shirt over his head so hard he nearly tore it.

"Yes, you were upset. Yes there was alcohol, but you and I both know that this was about more than that. You wanted to get back at her the first time. The second time was a bit too excessive for that. Get off your high horse and accept it." She grabbed him by the shirt and slammed him back against a tree, trailing kisses down his jaw as she held him in place. "You still have feelings for me and you've never let yourself truly examine them. Here's a news flash for you: no matter how guilty you feel for letting yourself give in, you'll always have a part inside that feels vindicated for it. There's nothing wrong with it, my sweet. The sooner you learn that, the sooner you can be free and happy and we can quit being enemies. You don't want me for an enemy, do you, love?"

He swallowed visibly, hearing truth in her words and not liking it one bit. She continued her assault on his senses and, to his horror, he felt himself responding as if they hadn't just spent hours making each other scream. "Katherine, stop…" he trailed off weakly, groaning as she played his sensitive spots with a knowing tongue. "I have to get back to the Boarding house to make sure everything's ok."

"Everything's fine," she assured. "Damon's got it all covered."

"That's what I'm afraid of…" he admitted before she yanked him into another kiss.

"Be selfish for once, Stefan. Let somebody else play the tortured hero," she said breathlessly as she let up on him. He wasn't struggling to get away, in fact he was as breathless as she was.

"I am being selfish," he admitted. "I don't want to be the reason somebody dies."

"Fine," she growled, releasing him completely. Her temper flared in an instant and was smothered again under the afterglow. "You know where to find me," she said cockily as he straightened his clothes and ran a shaky hand over his mouth. She casually went about the business of finding her own clothes and he swayed indecisively, watching her provocative dance. "Last chance to go before I change my mind," she sang at him over her shoulder, and he was gone.

Stefan found himself standing outside his own home for the second time that day, looking into the windows, afraid to go inside. Dirt under his fingernails and on his person, rends in his clothing, and wounds that healed too slowly marked his shame all too visibly. He saw Jeremy and Elena talking on the couch while Caroline dangled a glass of bourbon from elegant fingers, watchful but relaxed. He perceived the blur that was Damon, moving from room to room, preparing to move their arsenal and set up shop elsewhere. He thought about their dilemma, two brothers in love with the same vampire again, trying to keep her safe from the wrath that was the Council. He thought of Elena's betrayal, thought of his own. He clenched his jaw so hard it hurt. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes. They would never be what they were. The future looked so grim in that moment. Klaus was the originator of their bloodline, and it seemed there was no way they would ever be free of him. Katherine would never let him go, either, now that she knew he wasn't immune to her as he'd tried to seem in the past. The only upside to all this was that Damon wouldn't be leaving them. He wouldn't lose his brother. He regretted making that stupid deal, but now it was obvious that neither would be able to hold up their end of the bargain. In any case, he was glad of that part of it.

Mostly, he bemoaned the loss of what was and feared for the future. He couldn't back down, though. He had to keep trying. He couldn't let his brother win so easily, no matter what he'd done to damn himself, and no matter how he'd been hurt. He still believed that Elena was it for him. She was his salvation, his link to his humanity. He wouldn't let her go without a fight. Trembling, he turned away from his home to go find a shower and change of clothes awaiting him at Ric's abandoned apartment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*v*(B/K/T)*v*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bonnie lowered her hands, her chanting trailing off into nothing. Klaus's body lay before her on a bier, the greying of desiccated flesh receding, the hole the immortal stake had left closing. Even the black carbon charring was going away, until the body looked only slightly dead, without an inhabitant. "Did it work?" Klaus-in-Tyler demanded, leaning over and inspecting her handiwork for himself.

"It worked," she confirmed, shaking off the crawling feeling being near the Original Hybrid always gave her. "Your body's whole again. We can put you back in."

"Well, what are you waiting for, witch? Do it!" he demanded, Tyler's black eyes glittering at her dangerously.

"I need to rest. That took a lot out of me. If you don't want me dying in the middle of the spell, leaving you half-in-half-out, you'll give me a minute or two."

"Fine," he growled angrily. "Have your rest, but know my patience is very limited."

"Oh, believe me, I know," she parried, sitting in the wicker chair he pulled out for her. He handed a bottle of water over to her solicitously, but she knew his caring behavior was only because he wanted something. He only ever did anything to further his own agenda. She broke the seal of the plastic ring on the bottle and took a few drinks. The water tasted good, but she hated the synthetic feel of the plastic in her hand. What she wouldn't give for an earthenware chalice just then… She recapped the bottle and put it down on the floor so she wouldn't have to touch it any more.

"After this, you'll leave my mother alone?" she murmured with her eyes closed, knowing he could hear her even if she whispered.

"As long as she does nothing against me, she will be safe. I'll even lend a couple of my hybrids to ensure her protection, if you like," he added magnanimously, eager to get back into his much more indestructible body.

"As long as she doesn't know what they're doing," she stipulated. "I don't want her to know I was involved in any of this."

"Very well."

She only nodded her assent, and concentrated on restoring her power. The underground well beside them, the stones above them, the roots of the trees in the walls, the braziers lit on either end of the bier, and the air around them lent her the links to all four elements, making her recovery that much faster. There was old magic in this cave, used by generations of witches leading back to the first inhabitants of the area. The well was part of the underground network that fed and was fed by the falls and lakes and streams above that lent the name to the town. The braziers and the bier were cut from the very stone that made the cave, used in days of old for funerary rites as well as some of the more ancient sacrifices. The trees above were oak, not white but older than the town itself. Nature sang through this place and echoes of the past left ripples of power. It flowed into her on a drugging trickle, lending her second sight in the stream of time.

She had no idea how he learned of that particular cave, but she was going to come back here as often as she could, now that she knew of it. She felt at peace here, like she belonged to this place, and it to her. Even Klaus's intimidating presence was a shadow of what it used to be while she felt more powerful than she'd ever felt before, even with the spirits of the dead witches lending her their power. She felt she could do anything, handle anything.

Adrift in the essence of nature, she felt her own stores topping up. Just like that, she opened her eyes, stood, and gave Klaus's body a nod. "I'm good now. Let's do this."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*v*(TBC)*v*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N- So now we know what Bonnie's been up to. Kinda anticlimactic, as I was hoping for a Caroline/Tyler/Klaus showdown. That scene was actually one of my favorites in the show, but maybe I can still squeak in a little Klaroline for kicks.

Thumbs up if you like bad! Stefan getting it on with Katherine. Now they're all even, I guess. Wonder what Elena will think of Stefan not being Mr. Perfect when she learns the truth….

As always, reviews are love. 'Til next time, my darlings 3XOXO